No flames please My dd LOOOOVES her bouncy seat and we use it occasionally for times when she is really fussy and it is the ONLY thing that makes her happy or when we are alone with her and need to use the bathroom, do dishes etc. She has now outgrown it and a friend of mine gave me her exersaucer. I know my dd will love it because she loves to be upright and will love all of the toys on it but I HATE it. It is just a big obnoxious hunk of plastic and overwhelms me to look at all the crap on it. I really need something quick to set her in that she will enjoy for a few moments here and there. Are there any alternatives to the big, obnoxious plastic exersaucers that will keep my dd out of trouble for a few minutes. She really doesn't enjoy her swing or her pack n play that much so I really need something where she is more upright and can play. I was thinking maybe jsut a highchair with some toys but none of them seem like I could leave her alone in them because they don't have a strap that would go through her legs and she is very tiny and I am afraid she would slide out the leg holes of something.

When you say bouncy seat, do you mean walker or jump up jack? We searched high and low for a walker that would not be what we call "A little ADD Maker." It took us until about 4 months, which was perfect because ds was just then ready for such a thing. We got a Pooh Bear one from KMart, it only has 4 things on it - a spinning piglet globe, a pooh bear hunny pot that plays music when smashed, an eeyore flippy rattle, and a piglet mirror flower. Any or all of these can be removed, and the tray opens like wings to make room for food/etc on the plain tray underneath.

Our dear friends have a very cool jump up jack, and we know ds would love it, but we have no appropriate molding on 1st floor to hang it.

It's called Graco Bumper Jumper TWI. You can hang whatever toys you do or don't want on it. Just search Amazon, I'd post the link, but can't figure out how to do it and not have you access my account...i'm a little analog!

Don't feel guilty for letting your baby play in a toy that makes her happy! Just thank your stars something does! I was wary at first too, but the look of shear joy on ds face when he smacks pooh bear down and he plays camp town races is too much for me to fight!

We used a bouncy seat for DD for the same reasons. She didn't sit in it much, but when I needed it, it helped.
Then there's the exersaucer. We had one from when DS was a baby. It was helpful for him because he was super roley but wouldn't sit up and play. We pulled the big ole ugly saucer out for DD and....I HATE IT!!! So, I'm with you! It's presently sitting in the driveway, waiting for some freecycler to pick it up.

Your baby is just a month younger than mine, can she sit up? If not, can you just set her down on her tummy with something interesting in front of her [a mirror on the wall is great!] We also had a big high chair for DS and that is also being given away---soooo ugly! We did get one of those chairs that attaches to the table. If you didn't feel safe yet with the highchair and she's not sitting up, it seems like laying her on her on her belly would be the best until she can sit up.

I often put DS in the exersaucer when I'm going to the bathroom or hanging laundry outside. Most of the toys are removable, so I removed the ones that bothered me. Perhaps that's an option? My DS can sit up but still falls over on his face, so I can't leave him alone upright yet.

Lily can sit but not unattended KWIM, she will fall on her face!! She can crawl though-army crawl-but she can go wherever she wants so I can't leave her unattended on the floor. We are going to get a SuperYard possibly so I can leave her on teh floor with toys to play with but she just loves sitting and grabbing at things in her bouncer. By bouncer I mean one of those vibrating infant seat things but we never put batteries in it so it it really just a chair for her! I guess I will jsut use the hunk o plastic (exersaucer). At least her bouncy was metal and cloth. I jsut keep thinking they must make a wooden and cloth exersuacer because I jsut saw some wooden bouncers but I can't find any.

there were some people at my church who had an antique wooden walker that was really cool. maybe check around at antique stores or something like that. i dont know about an exersaucer though

careful with old stuff however...when i was a baby i fell down the stairs in my walker, and landed head first in a bucket ! walkers can be dangerous, you have to watch babies in them...and it sounds like you want something you can keep your baby in and not watch them like a hawk.
i have the excersaucer,it is UGLY , but it is great for when i need to go pee, or hop on the computer to do banking or emails or something. my son stays chill for a few minutes and then we take him out.
i just keep it out of the way when i am not using it so i don't have to look at it.

I struggled with the saucer thing too. I wasn't going to buy one, but then we received one for a gift and DS loved it because he could stand. I am not a fan of all of the crazy toys that come attached to them (loved the quote about the ADD maker). Anyway, I walked into my day care providers kitchen last week and there was a saucer with no attached toys. It simply had a yellow tray going around it. It was the first time I had ever seen one without a bunch of junk hanging from it. A style like that may be more fitting for you. I thought it was great!

I have the Fisher Price Deluxe Jumperoo. It is the older model and only has one little toy tray thing that is removable. DS never liked the toy or the music, so that thing got put far far away! The newer model is a bit more flashy though and I don't know if the toys come off. I know that a few stores still carry the older one though. We would have done the Johnny Jumper thing but don't have the doorways for it. DS loved jumping and it was great when I needed time to go to the bathroom in peace!! HTH!!